Will this work?... fax from computer....

[jardster]

We are setting up a new office in the house for my wife. I'm getting her all new stuff.... new iMac, ScanSnap scanner, duplex wireless printer. I really detest MFCs because I don't think they do anything great. However, sometimes she may need to send faxes. I know that there are efax services, and can use those, but I was wondering if there is a more elegant solution.

Her desk is on one wall and the "devices" are all across the room. These devices include the phone jack and an Airport Time capsule. Does anyone know if this would be possible.... hook up a USB fax modem http://www.amazon.com/USRobotics-USR5637...s_172508_1 to the phone line and then the USB to the Time Capsule. Hopefully the modem would just show up as a shared printer which she can then just print/fax from any program using the print menu.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[ztirffritz]

I doubt it will work but it won't hurt to try.

[sekker]

Our Brother MFC is awesome. A great scanner and laser printer. Not sure I've ever FAXed anything, but it is plugged into the phone line just in case!

[davemchine]

I use iFax but it is expensive per page. More suited for the occasional fax which works for me.

I think the best idea is to hookup a MFC. If she is going to do a lot of faxing a true dedicated fax may be in order.

[Robert M]

Jardster,

You need to reevaluate your assessment of all-in-one machines. While some are mediocre to crappytacular at best - the HP J4580 comes to mind - others are very good. None will replace a great high quality dedicated scanner, photocopier or a full-featured fax machine. That is to be expected. They aren't trying to replace equipment of that level. Despite that, the better all-in-ones do a solid job as scanners, fax machines, copiers and printeers.

An efax setup such as one from Ringcentral - will be solid for certain applications. My office has a subscription and uses the service daily. One caveat is info sent to and from an efax system is insecure. So, I wouldn't use it for secure information such as financial data, medical data, etc. For those kinds of documents, an actual fax machine of some kind is key.

Something else that comes to mind is convenience. I've used the scanner to fax software/modem in the past and the processes was inconvenient in comparison to dropping a page or several pages onto a auto document feeder, typing in a phone number and pressing fax. Or, dropping a page onto a flatbed, typing in a number and hitting fax. I wouldn't go back to the scanner/fax modem method again unless I didn't have an option. I'd take a cheap all-in-one over the scanner/fax software/modem method without a second thought.

How much faxing is going to be necessary? Even the crappytacular J4580 is sufficient for a small number of faxes. It also does the job for basic scanning, too. I've got one on my desk whose output paper tray broke and has dried out ink tanks and use it as a scanner and a secondary fax machine for outbound faxes. It isn't perfect but it gets the job done. It also doubles as a backup fax machine and will kick into gear in the event our main all-in-one has issues.

Robert

[mikebw]

Surely, an MFC is not going to be the best at all tasks, but are you gonna buy a separate scanner, printer and copier? Better to have something that can a least do all the things you need, than to have just one thing that is more limited in function.

[Robert M]

Mike,

That and factor in space. Each one of those machines is going to require surface area. Probably not an issue in a regular office but potentially significant problem in a home office.

Robert

[Robert M]

Jardster,

Something else to factor... As much as you dislike all-in-ones, you should consider what your wife wants when it comes to faxing. If she is anything like mine, she isn't going to want the inconvenience and cumbersome task of dealing with a scanner, fax software and modem. She'd want to drop the page on the fax machine, dial the number and press fax. It's one of the reasons we have a nice all-in-one in our home office.

Robert

[Speedy]

Get a G3 iMac with internal fax- modem and run GlobalFax in OS9. Send and receive faxes from the iMac. Of course, actual paper files she wants to send will need to be scanned and then faxed.

Hard to beat a free-standing fax machine, though.